Testing...Testing 1, 2, 3...

Don't ask me why, but as I got ready to go for a road ride today, I changed my mind and decided to do a test on the old NSR Duathlon course. I packed my running shoes, ski boats, rollerskies and poles, and some post workout clothes and headed to one of my favorite local training grounds Island Lake State Park. I arrived at the park and drove back to the River Bends parking area and got ready to run. I did a short warm up loop and tried to remember the TT loop...it took a few moments to recall how the course actually went but after a few minutes it all came back to me. I felt OK on the run, not great but I kept a nice steady pace. On the second loop I could feel I was going pretty slow on the climb, so I need to work on the hills and endurance over the next few months. I finished pretty strong and came in with a 22:12, not too bad. My best time from 2004 was 20:51, so I was happy I wasn't way slower. Room for improvement as the fall training progresses.



I took a 10 minute break and got dressed to rollerski. After the run my ambitious plan to follow it with a rollerski wasn't sounding like that great of an idea, but I stuck with my crazy plan. The fact that it was only my 2nd rollerski of the summer didn't help with my confidence. I finally geeked myslef up thinking of old Gunda Svan quotes and clipped into my ProSki C2's. I actually felt pretty good once I got rolling. My HR was high but that is to be expected since I have very litttle upper body work in so far this summer. I kept a nice even pace and crossed the line in 20:52. Not bad since my only other time on the same course back in 2004 was 20:52?! That's pretty encouraging since it was only my second time out on the skis. Back in 2004 I had rollerskied a fair amount before I put up that time. I did a lot of skating that summer and fall on my fast ProSki S2 rollerskis, maybe those are too fast to give the upper body a good resistance workout? This year I plan to do mostly double pole on my rollerskis, so maybe that will help come winter?

Good news from the Farmers Almanac for this winter -
"The Midwest and the Great Lakes will see above-normal snowfall, especially during January and February, the almanac predicts."

I hope they are right!

Well, I plan on doing a Run/Ski TT every 4 weeks as a test this fall. The next one will be on September 21st, so come on out and test yourself.

Finally...

....got out for a rollerski this morning, and it felt good, really good for the first time out this summer:) I parked at the new mall at Lee Rd and hiked into the back of Island Lake State Park. I arrived at 6:35am and was skiing by 6:45am. The park is closed at that hour so the road was quiet and free of cars. I took it easy and tried to work on good technique. I was surprised I could stride out on each leg with pretty good balance. I worked on "shooting the foot" and complete weight transfer. I spent 85% of the time double poling, which I'm sure I'll feel tomorrow. It was a positive day and I'm actually looking forward to rollerskiing?! Look out this could be dangerous :) I may actually up my plan from one day a week in August to 2 days a week?

I'm pretty happy with my training lately, still lacking in the upper body department but overall my fitness is improving. Usually I don't run in the summer due to the heat, this year I have kept up running 1-2 days a week and I think that has really helped keep the engine "tuned" up. Cycling is fun but you are sitting and not supporting your body so its not as taxing on your aerobic system. Dropping down to 170lbs(from 180+) has also done wonders for my running as well. I have 5 more pounds to go and I'll be as close to race weight.

So, the big focus for me over the next couple weeks will be sleep and hydration, as well as rollerskiing! I've been staying up too late and not getting my 7-8hrs of sleep a night. I also have not been keeping up with my fluids at work lately. This will have to change....I really need to refocus on my diet as well. I have done really well over the summer months but I'm starting to get lazy in my food preparations. So, on top of trying to keep up with my training I must focus some attention on the little things and complete the package.

Only 20 weeks until the Holiday Classical race, time to bust out the rollerskies!!